For some time, consumers have enjoyed recreational and hydro-therapeutic benefits of spas, hot tubs, whirlpools, and jetted baths (all forms of the aforementioned and derivatives thereof are referred to hereinafter as “spa system”). Spa systems can serve as a retreat for relaxation or socialization. They can also provide therapeutic benefits by making use of circulating heated water to treat muscles and/or joints to improve physical well being. Generally, the circulating heated water is passed through a jet or nozzle to accelerate the flow of the water as it is discharged into a tub. This jetted flow or jetted water offers therapeutic massages to the user.
At the present time, spa systems include one or more AC induction motors that operate at one, two or three fixed preset speeds to deliver jetted water. A problem with this arrangement is that these preset speeds are defined by the manufacturer and cannot be changed by the user. Consequently, the user is unable to adjust the flow of the jetted water to his preference, and the blast of jetted water produced by the pump may be too strong, too weak, or uncomfortable for the user.
Current spa systems also typically include a circulating pump, separate from the jetting pump, for circulating water during “standby.” Generally, “standby” is the time period when the jetting pump is not operating or when the spa system is not occupied by a user. Typically, the circulating pump is a single-speed pump that is programmed to turn ON to filter, sanitize, and heat the water. In other prior art systems, a single two-speed pump may be used for both jetting and circulating. But even here, a single high speed is used for jetting, and a single low speed is used for filtering, sanitizing and heating the water during standby. A problem with these configurations is that the same speed is used to filter, sanitize and heat the spa system's water. In practice, however, the water flow that is needed to heat the water differs from the flow that is required to filter and/or sanitize the water. Typically, for example, the pump speed required for filtering and sanitizing is lower than the pump speed that is needed to heat the water. Therefore, the current spa systems waste energy because unnecessary power is expended during the filtering and/or sanitizing cycle.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide improved methods and apparatus for controlling the speed of a pump to adjust the water flow through an inlet to a tub or basin to a user's preference. It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved spa system that can deliver new and different jetting modes to be enjoyed by the user. It is further an object of the invention to provide improved methods and apparatus for operating a pump to deliver optimum or near optimum speed for filtering, sanitizing and heating water. It is further an object of the invention to provide the above-identified objects in an energy efficient manner over current systems.